The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-12-01

change the burning question into, 'sWhat
shall We tel our girls?' How far. \,
short are mothers justified in going i,
impsrting information of all sorts and de-
scriptlons,su as they may think necessary
on every subject. TO their oanghtersi The
more one looks at it the more serious
does the question really become. A good
deal depends on the sphere of the girls
themselves. What would be necessarx
for one wouldn't be for another. Yet Their.
are things which, enthusiasts will tell Won.
all girls should be told and know, be her
rank and position the highest or III,
lowest, and their mothers should be ths
medium of information. These things
should be told, they contend, just as soon
as their daughters are capable of compre-
hending the full force and meaning of the
words employed. There is also the old
school of thought and opinion on this
subject, and it is needless to say that the
opinions of both are Numerically op-
posed to each other. One Is conservative:
the other radical. In the one you will
find preserved all the ola ideas and ways
Of our grandmothers; in the other nothing
is preserved for the old times sake alone.
and you will observe a tendency (if no
more) to obliterate all the old customs in
the bringing up of daughters, and de-
sire to substitute original principles in
stead.
Now, let me take the views of two old
ladies: The first is q strong conservative.
Primrose dame. lady of title, and de-
scendant of one of the illustrious families
of the nation.
This is far too fast an age as it is
she will tell you, without encouraging
girls to break through the traditions Of
their mothers. Keep girls mind fresh
and clean, say, unsullied by thoughts
and ideas which if not exactly bad in
themselves, have the faint of suggestion.
They will learn the wickedness of the
world soon enough by experience, and
the longer you can keep them unsullied by
knowledge of things they had best be
ignorant Of the better it will be for them
and their hus bands. pure-minded girl
is gem in these rapid days. Oh, yes, l
know. That's what every one says. Be
lieVe me, the less you tell girl the bet
ter"
Now, the radical lady. She has no
birth to speak of, but a certain position
from the responsibility of her two hus-
bands, one of whom was an army officer
and the other clergyman. 1 call her
radical, even though she has lately, asa
deserter from the banner of Gladstone.
become a member OF the Primrose
League.
"For my part, you can't tell girl too
much. 1t is better to tell them and exp plain
things, than to have them find things out
and put their own secret construction
upon them. A girl should be guarded at
all points. She can take care of herself
on every occasion without mothers
watchful eye upon her. Let her be her
own mother, as it were. Besides, it gives
her an independence of manner and
action which are especially attractive 10
men, in these days"
words" replies Lady Tory. "Men GER
tainly didn't admire forward, knowing
girls in my day. l can imagine the de-
testation in which the girl of the period
as she is called, would have been held by
my brothers when they were young men,
and you would make every girl girl of
the period"
"But nay dear Lady Tory, the girl of
the period invariably marries, and mar
ries we'll. Take my word for it, she is far
more taking with men than the girls who
can't move without their mothers permits
sion and approval. There are too many
girls nowadays-yes, am speaking of the
present time, not fifty years ago--to need
to build hedges and walls about them, and
bolt and bar them in for fear some man
would look at chem. You have to attract
men to them now, instead of chasing
them away. Now, for example, look at
the poet Swinburne's sisters. They have
been kept all their lives in the dark about
everything. The bloom has never been
rubbed off their peach. They are nice
looking-or rather have been-one of
them especially, and they all have money
Yet none of them is married. Why: Their
mother followed your plan"
For my part I'd sooner have q hun
dred Miss Swinburnes for daughters than
one Mrs. CORVALLIS West, Mrs. Langtry,
or Lady Kildare-Duchess of Leinster,
beg her pardon. 1 suppose you'd tell
your girls how to paint their faces before
they left the school-room, like the latter
when she was Lady Hermione Duncombe,
and give them hints as to the way to catch
the notice of the Prince of Wales, like the
two former. I'd sooner have my girls old
maids, decent, clear Drained old spinsters,
than wives like them"
"Oh, that's their husbands fault, OF
course. So far as know, it generally is
the husbands fault if woman forgets her
early teaching"
"Why, you wouldn't give her any early
teaching to forget.
"Oh, 1 see we can't agree" says Mrs.
Radical, rather up tree, and thinking an
honorable retreat the better tactics. LET
us change the subject"
The worst feature about catarrh is It's
dangerous tendency to consumption.